Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Adoption set to get easier, faster


Adoption set to get easier, faster
Mon May 7, 2012 1:48 am (PDT)

Adoption set to get easier, faster
NEW DELHI: A simplified procedure, time-bound approvals and specialised centres in every district are among a series of steps planned to speed up the adoption process, which drags for months and at times even years. Once the changes proposed by the women and child development ministry in the Juvenile Justice Act come into force, the process will be completed in a few months. Child justice board - specialised court for children - and not the district magistrates will give the nod for adoption to go ahead. The longest delay is the time taken for the go-ahead from the district magistrate. Every district in the country has a justice board. The plan is to take the adoption process to districts from state capitals. Each district will have one or more adoption institutions to ensure that the procedure is hassle-free for perspective parents, says a draft note sent by the ministry to the state governments. The child welfare committee (CWC) will have to declare abandoned or surrendered children free for adoption within a given timeframe - a fortnight in case of an abandoned newborn and two months for others. "These children should be with their adopted parents in two to three months," said a senior government official on condition of anonymity. Only the CWC, a district-level body responsible for the wellbeing of children in need of care, can declare a child legally free for adoption. It will also help adoption by foreigners which has seen a 40% drop in five years (2006-10). In the same period, such adoptions from Africa grew manifold - more than doubled for Ethiopia, which has a single-window procedure. "Approvals at the state and central level are required before a child is put up for adoption abroad," the official said.